When Mary Moore began her high school in 1951, her mother told her, “Be sure and take a typing course so when this show business thing doesn’t work out, you’ll have something to rely on.” Mary responded in typical teenage fashion. From that moment on, “the very last thing I ever thought about doing was taking a typing course,” she recalls.
The show business thing worked out, of course. In her career, Mary won many awards. Only recently, when she began to write Growing Up Again , did she regret ignoring her mom, “I don’t know how to use a computer,” she admits.
Unlike her 1995 autobiography, After All , her second book is less about life as an award-winning actress and more about living with diabetes(糖尿病). All the money from the book is intended for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation(JDRF), an organization she serves as international chairman. “I felt there was a need for a book like this,” she says. “I didn’t want to lecture, but I wanted other diabetics to know that things get better when we’re self-controlled and do our part in managing the disease.”
But she hasn’t always practiced what she teaches. In her book, she describes that awful day, almost 40 years ago, when she received two pieces of life-changing news. First, she had lost the baby she was carrying, and second, tests showed that she had diabetes. In a childlike act, she left the hospital and treated herself to a box of doughnuts(甜甜圈). Years would pass before she realized she had to grow up—again—and take control of her diabetes, not let it control her. Only then did she kick her three-pack-a-day cigarette habit, overcome her addiction to alcohol, and begin to follow a balanced diet.
Although her disease has affected her eyesight and forced her to the sidelines of the dance floor, she refuses to fall into self-pity. “Everybody on earth can ask, ‘why me?’ about something or other,” she insists. “It doesn’t do any good. No one is immune (免疫的) to heartache, pain, and disappointments. Sometimes we can make things better by helping others. I’ve come to realize the importance of that as I’ve grown up this second time. I want to speak out and be as helpful as I can be.”
1. Why did Mary feel regretful?
A. She didn’t achieve her ambition.
B. She didn’t take care of her mother.
C. She didn’t complete her high school.
D. She didn’t follow her mother’s advice.
2. We can know that before 1995 Mary ______.
A. had two books published
B. received many career awards
C. knew how to use a computer
D. supported the JDRF by writing
3. Mary’s second book Growing Up Again is mainly about her ______.
A. living with diabetes
B. successful show business
C. service for an organization
D. remembrance of her mother
4. When Mary received the life-changing news, she ______.
A. lost control of herself
B. began a balanced diet
C. tried to get a treatment
D. behaved in an adult way
5. What can we know from the last paragraph?
A. Mary feels pity for herself.
B. Mary has recovered from her disease.
C. Mary wants to help others as much as possible.
D. Mary determines to go back to the dance floor.
typing n . 打字
show business 演艺事业
work out 产生结果;被证明有效
fashion n . 方式,样子
recall v . 回忆起,回想
ignore v . 忽视,对……不予理会
autobiography n . 自传
award-winning adj . 获奖的,优等的,一流的
be intended for 为……而打算,目的是用于……
juvenile adj . 青少年的
lecture v . 讲授,讲课
self-controlled adj . 自我控制的
describe v . 叙述,形容,描写
awful adj . 糟糕的,可怕的
childlike adj . 天真的,幼稚的,孩子般的
treat v . 请客,款待
self-pity n . 自怜
1. When Mary Moore began her high school in 1951, her mother told her, “Be sure and take a typing course so when this show business thing doesn’t work out, you’ll have something to rely on.”
be sure:一定要。take a course:修习一门课程。so在这里表示目的,意思是“以便”。本句结构稍显复杂,但比较清晰,when引导时间状语从句,引号部分是主句的直接引语,引语中so后面是目的状语从句,该从句本身又是个复合句。
(参考译文) 1951年,当玛莉·摩尔开始上中学时,她的妈妈告诉她,“一定要学一学打字,这样如果演艺事业不顺利,你还能有所依靠。”
2. All the money from the book is intended for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), an organization she serves as international chairman.
本句结构比较简单,但两个短语的出现增加了一定难度,第一个是“is intended for”,这里的意思是“用于……”,第二个是“serves as”,意思是“担任”。
(参考译文) 这本书的所有收入都将用来支持青少年糖尿病研究基金会(JDRF),她在这个机构中担任国际主席。